Struggling to Master

[MaxGunz]

Originally Posted by Jonesyy

Hey guys I have been playing IL-2 after getting into Flight Sims about a month ago. I now own TrackIR and an X52 PRO to enhance my game but I am struggling to master a few aspects.

The first isn't so much as an issue by myself just a little confusing. My propeller pitch seems to automatically go to 10% or so for no reason and I need to manually bring it back up to 100%. This even happened on autopilot the other day as I was flying home.

The next are little things. Struggling to beat Carrier landings for one but can anybody give me some tips, or direct me to a guide for dummies on all things flight sims. One of the biggest problems though is this:

I can never catch up to enemy fighters. They always go faster than me and after a while my plane stops being able to climb properly at all. I imagine this could be something to do with my engine heat but I am not sure. Also, when I shoot (even though I take gravity/convergence) into account I can never hit anything. In contrast, on CloD or Battle of Britain or Rise of Flight I am generally fine.

Cheers for any advice for a n00b
Dan

Prop pitch might have gotten mapped to a HOTAS (stick) control. You might want to check that. It happened to me with flaps once, a true WTF? until I hit escape and checked Controls.

Sometimes you can't catch enemy fighters because they have faster planes like you in a LaGG-3 and them in Bf-109F's just to mention one such matchup.

Getting speed up has several factors. If you get real slow then you can spend too much power just keeping your nose up. Solution is get the nose down if it won't crash you right away. Work with extended tactics instead of trying to always point at the enemy. It takes a lot of practice and as always I tell: practice flying without combat until you are good and being fast is second nature and only then on to gunnery and combat. That is how it was done for real. Flight school, gunnery training, combat training and -then- go to war and maybe learn the real lessons before you die. Just because the "real lessons" didn't begin till real combat doesn't mean the school was not necessary. The school enabled rookies to have any chance to learn those "real lessons" at all.

Your gunnery problem points to one probable flying problem. If your plane is not pointing where it is going then the guns and sight point off to one side to some degree. That will throw off every shot that doesn't take it into account or is made from so close it doesn't matter.
That problem is called flying in slip. You have a slip gauge in most every plane. It is usually a black ball in a curved "smiley" track. P-51 has a small one at the base of the gunsight easy to see even zoomed in to shoot. Practice flying with that in view until after a while you keep it centered by habit then only need to check once in a while, like speedometer while driving you don't watch that all the time (well I knew a driver who did but he was an idiot and drove really bad).

If the ball is off center then rudder a little to the same side that the ball is, just enough to center the ball. Pilot term is "step on the ball".

Flying with slip will throw your aim off. It will also slow you down anywhere from just a little to a lot. Flying with just a little slip will also make your plane look like it's going to the side to most human enemies, you lose a little speed but his first burst may miss.

Hopefully you have rudder pedals or stick that twists and not using keyboard or rocker for rudder control. Good rudder control is a must.

For speed also do you keep your plane trimmed? If not then you will not get proper speed.

Your trim and slip change with change in IAS (indicated air speed) as well as changes in engine and prop settings so there is no one set that works. Controlling the plane well is a very dynamic and responsive process. It is best to lead with the controls not too far ahead of the changes you want and not horse the plane around. Finesse gets best results.